-
49'Hume's Newtonianism and anti-Newtonianism', in: Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyIn Peter Adamson (ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2012.
-
95SOME PRINCIPLES OF ADAM SMITH’S NEWTONIAN METHODS IN THE WEALTH OF NATIONSResearch in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology 23 (1): 33-74. 2005.
-
68In this paper I call attention to Adam Smith’s “Considerations Concerning the First Formation of Languages” in order to facilitate understanding Adam Smith from a Darwinian perspective. By ‘Darwinian’ I mean a position that explains differential selection over time through natural mechanisms. First, I argue that right near the start of Wealth of Nations Smith signals that human nature has probably evolved over a very long amount of time. Second, I connect this evidence with an infamous passage o…Read more
-
33Review of Omri Boehm’s Kant’s Critique of Spinoza (review)Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal 36 (2): 463-483. 2015.
-
448Smith's Humean criticism of Hume's account of the origin of justiceJournal of the History of Philosophy 44 (1): 47-63. 2006.It is argued that Adam Smith criticizes David Hume's account of the origin of and continuing adherence to the rule of law for being not sufficiently Humean. Hume explained that adherence to the rule of law originated in the self-interest to restrain self-interest. According to Smith, Hume does not pay enough attention to the passions of resentment and admiration, which have their source in the imagination. Smith's offers a more naturalistic and evolutionary account of the psychological pre-condi…Read more
-
58The main task for philosophers is introducing, clarifying, articulating, or simply redirecting concepts as—to echo Quine’s poetic formulation— “devices for working a manageable structure into the flux of experience.” I sometimes use “coining concepts” as shorthand for this task. When the concepts are quantitative they are part of a possible science ; when the concepts are qualitative they can be part of a possible philosophy. Of course, in practice, concepts are oft en stillborn, while others ha…Read more
-
175Newton and Spinoza: On motion and matter (and God, of course)Southern Journal of Philosophy 50 (3): 436-458. 2012.This study explores several arguments against Spinoza's philosophy that were developed by Henry More, Samuel Clarke, and Colin Maclaurin. In the arguments on which I focus, More, Clarke, and Maclaurin aim to establish the existence of an immaterial and intelligent God precisely by showing that Spinoza does not have the resources to adequately explain the origin of motion. Attending to these criticisms grants us a deeper appreciation for how the authority derived from the empirical success of New…Read more
-
76The main point of this paper is to contribute to understanding Milton Friedman’s (1953) “The Methodology of Positive Economics” (hereafter F1953), one of the most influential statements of economic methodology of the twentieth century, and, in doing so, help discern the non trivial but complex role of philosophic ideas in the shaping of economic theorizing and economists’ self-conception. It also aims to contribute to a better understanding of the theoretical origins of the so-called ‘Chicago’ s…Read more
-
80Inventing paradigms, monopoly, methodology, and mythology at 'Chicago': Nutter, Stigler, and Milton FriedmanStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 43 (1): 160-171. 2012.
-
234Hume’s attack on Newton’s philosophyEnlightenment and Dissent 25 167-203. 2009.In this paper, I argue that major elements of Hume’s metaphysics and epistemology are not only directed at the inductive argument from design which seemed to follow from the success of Newton’s system, but also have far larger aims. They are directed against the authority of Newton’s natural philosophy; the claims of natural philosophy are constrained by philosophic considerations. Once one understands this, Hume’s high ambitions for a refashioned ‘true metaphysics’ or ‘first philosophy’, that i…Read more
-
75Sympathy: A History (edited book)Oxford University Press USA. 2015.Our modern-day word for sympathy is derived from the classical Greek word for fellow-feeling. Both in the vernacular as well as in the various specialist literatures within philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, economics, and history, "sympathy" and "empathy" are routinely conflated. In practice, they are also used to refer to a large variety of complex, all-too-familiar social phenomena: for example, simultaneous yawning or the giggles. Moreover, sympathy is invoked to address problems associat…Read more
-
13
-
30Review of G.A.J. Rogers, Tom Sorrell, Jill Kraye (eds.), Insiders and Outsiders in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2010 (3). 2010.
-
139Newton’s substance monism, distant action, and the nature of Newton’s empiricism: discussion of H. Kochiras “Gravity and Newton’s substance counting problem”Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 42 (1): 160-166. 2011.This paper is a critical response to Hylarie Kochiras’ “Gravity and Newton’s substance counting problem,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 40 267–280. First, the paper argues that Kochiras conflates substances and beings; it proceeds to show that Newton is a substance monist. The paper argues that on methodological grounds Newton has adequate resources to respond to the metaphysical problems diagnosed by Kochiras. Second, the paper argues against the claim that Newton is committed to…Read more
-
Wijsbegeerte tussen wetenschap en moraal in een post-Newtoniaanse wereld: Berkeley, Hume en Adam SmithAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 100 (3): 244-246. 2008.
-
917This chapter argues that the standard conception of Spinoza as a fellow-travelling mechanical philosopher and proto-scientific naturalist is misleading. It argues, first, that Spinoza’s account of the proper method for the study of nature presented in the Theological-Political Treatise (TTP) points away from the one commonly associated with the mechanical philosophy. Moreover, throughout his works Spinoza’s views on the very possibility of knowledge of nature are decidedly sceptical (as specifie…Read more
-
27The Newtonian refutation of Spinoza: Newton's challenge and the socratic problemIn Andrew Janiak & Eric Schliesser (eds.), Interpreting Newton: Critical Essays, Cambridge University Press. pp. 299--319. 2012.
-
65When Christiaan Huygens prepared the 1686/1687 expedition to the Cape of Good Hope on which his pendulum clocks were to be tested for their usefulness in measuring longitude at sea, he also gave instructions to Thomas Helder to perform experiments with the seconds-pendulum. This was prompted by Jean Richer's 1672 finding that a seconds-pendulum is 1 1/4 lines shorter in Cayenne than in Paris. Unfortunately, Helder died on the voy¬age, and no data from the seconds-pendulum ever reached Huygens. H…Read more
-
35Toland and Adam Smith's Posthumous WorkDiametros 40 115-125. 2014.In this paper I offer a speculative answer to the question why Adam Smith, who burned nearly all of his papers, arranged for posthumous publication for a number of his essays. I rely on a number of hints in those essays and put them in the context of eighteenth century natural philosophy. I argue that those hints trace back to John Toland and Spinozism
-
79Four Species of Reflexivity and History of Economics in Economic Policy ScienceJournal of the Philosophy of History 5 (3): 425-445. 2011.This paper argues that history of economics has a fruitful, underappreciated role to play in the development of economics, especially when understood as a policy science. This goes against the grain of the last half century during which economics, which has undergone a formal revolution, has distanced itself from its `literary' past and practices precisely with the aim to be a more successful policy science. The paper motivates the thesis by identifying and distinguishing four kinds of reflexivi…Read more
-
226My critical comments on Part I of P. J. E. Kail's Projection and Realism in Hume's Philosophy are divided into two parts. First, I challenge the exegetical details of Kail's take on Hume's important distinction between natural and philosophical relations. I show that Kail misreads Hume in a subtle fashion. If I am right, then much of the machinery that Kail puts into place for his main argument does different work in Hume than Kail thinks. Second, I offer a brief criticism of Kail's argument for…Read more
-
214Newton’s Challenge to Philosophy: A Programmatic EssayHopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 1 (1): 101-128. 2011.I identify a set of interlocking views that became (and still are) very influential within philosophy in the wake of Newton’s success. These views use the authority of natural philosophy/mechanics to settle debates within philosophy. I label these “Newton’s Challenge.”
-
109In this paper I interpret Newton’s speculative treatment of gravity as a relational, accidental property of matter that arises through what Newton calls “the shared action” of two bodies of matter. In doing so, I expand and extend on a hint by Howard Stein. However, in developing the details of my interpretation I end up disagreeing with Stein’s claim that for Newton a single body can generate a gravity/force field. I argue that when Newton drafted the first edition of the Principia in the mid 1…Read more
-
84Interpreting Spinoza: Critical EssaysBritish Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (4). 2011.British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Volume 19, Issue 4, Page 822-826, July 2011
-
168Hume's missing shade of blue reconsidered from a Newtonian PerspectiveJournal of Scottish Philosophy 2 (2): 164-175. 2004.Click to decrease image size.
Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands
Areas of Interest
8 more